Mary Cowperthwait is the Corps Director for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, a role she assumed in 2024 after serving as the Brass Caption Head and Staff Coordinator. Before joining the Troopers, she taught junior high and high school band at Nixa Public Schools for six years and spent four years as a K-5 general music teacher in Springfield, MO and Cabot, Arkansas. Mary’s drum corps journey began as a member of The Academy from 2007 to 2009.  She also performed a feature tuba role in the all-female production Odyssey that toured Japan in 2008. She later taught with the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps from 2010–2012 and 2015–2020 before joining the Troopers staff in 2021. Under her leadership, the Troopers returned to DCI Finals in 2022 and secured back-to-back Finals appearances for the first time in 36 years. Mary currently resides in Casper, WY, where she continues to lead the Troopers into a new era of success.